Example of Section Blog layout (FAQ section)

Busting Myths...

Created: Saturday, 30 November 2013 10:45

Last Updated: Wednesday, 04 December 2013 15:51

Monday, 09 December 2013 00:10

Bike Weight and the Myth of Fast Bikes

By Jim Gourley

In my new book FASTER, I reveal the science underlying our beloved swim, bike, run sports and show how triathletes can find free speed with a little know-how. I also debunk myths and misunderstandings about gear that can save you thousands of dollars so you can spend your hard-earned cash on those gear and technique upgrades that actually make you faster.

Here, I’ll bust the myth of weight savings and reveal the truth about so-called “fast” bikes. To keep it quick, I’ll skip over some of the details that make FASTER a really interesting book.

First, let’s clear something up. There is no such thing as a “fast bike.” Bikes are neither fast nor slow. Bikes are shiny or expensive. Bikes...

have a lot of mass or a little. Without a rider, they are stationary. Physics holds a bike in place until you get on it and start pedaling. Even then the bike may not necessarily be fast. Of all the equipment on your bike, your legs are the most critical component. There are plenty of nice bikes on the road that are being ridden slowly.

But more insidious than inaccurate vocabulary is a simple overestimation of how much bike weight matters for triathletes.

In FASTER, I show the math that explains why just a degree or two of incline makes riding a bike feel so much harder. Riding up a hill, it may seem more important than ever to dump any and all extra mass we can from our bikes. That’s the allure of a carbon fiber bottle cage, an upgrade to carbon fiber cranks, handlebars, stem, carbon saddle rails or wheel spokes. Five grams here, 10 grams there, it all adds up, right? Pretty soon, you’re 500 grams lighter. That’s half a kilogram!

True. But such upgrades could easily total $500 or more, which is also half a grand. Is it worth it? READ MORE